Single Parent Nursing Student

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Hi all. I am 32, starting my BSN program Aug 29, and stressing about everything. I've been told that I will be in class 14 hrs a week, plus a 7 hr clinical once a week, and I've been told that on average a person should study 3 hours at home for every hour in class. That means, if my insomnia passes (initial insomnia), I will have approx 21 hrs a week to have a personal life (3 hours a day). I have a child who is 2 1/2 yrs old, and her "father" is NOT involved in her life at all. Does anyone have any suggestions as to help with figuring out how to deal with being a single parent while being a nursing student?

I'm sure things will fall into place. Do you have a family/friend support system? To be able to study are you able to hire a teen or a mothers helper to come in after school to watch/entertain your little one? I know 1 mom who just graduated and 1 mom who is in her 2nd semester. Both are married but their husband frequently deploy so they are alone for months on end. They keep meals simple, rely on others (it's only temporary!) and they make sure they spend some quality time with their little ones. Good luck!

I'm a single parent who started school with a child the same age as yours. I was able to pay for full time daycare for him though and left him there as if I was working a full time job (which in a way, I am). I also have a good family support and without them, I don't know if I would have made it as far. It's doable but hard, I won't lie. But so worth it in the end! I graduate this December and can't wait to be done and get a job! Good luck to you!

You can do it! I know several...I mean serveral single parents that went through nursing and are working RN's today. Do you know of any other single parents? Find other single parents, we sometimes lean on each other when we need help.
I wish you the best, and you can do this

Hey! Congrats on starting your program. I am a 33 year old single mom of 3 boys. Ages 13, 6 and 3. I staretd my program in January of this year. In all honesty it hasn't been too rough. I do have to find time to functionally study with the kids homework and the sibling bickering. Finding other moms in the same situation works also. I can't participate in study groups, but, phone studying has been a life saver. You can ABSOLUTELY do it! Again congrats. Start getting things together now. Freeze meals, stock up on notebooks and post-its, black pens and get all the rest you can now. You can send me a message and I can give you info on practice sites that I have used for the BSN program.

Hi,
I'm really encouraged to read this. I'm a 22 year old single mommy of a 10 month old, currently. I will graduate undergrad next semester and will be applying to nursing school NEXT MONTH! AHH! But, I too am nervous about the rigor of nursing school. My son's daycare runs from 7 am until 6 pm, which is pretty decent and I get funding for that. I'm just worried about clinicals and classes. I guess it should be similar to the way college has been thus far in that I've always taken a heavy course load. I took 20 credits one semester just because I wanted to take an extra language course so, I think that since nursing semesters range from 12 to 16 credits, I should be OKAY. But, I'm sure that the classes will be intense! Maybe in between classes, I'll be disciplined enough to knock out most of the studying...The baby usually goes to sleep at 8 so that helps and by then he'll be weaned off of breastfeeding during the day- I HOPE! He'd be 1 yr 3 months when I'd start a nursing program. I guess the first step for me will be GETTING IN A SCHOOL! I'll be applying to 6 or 7 schools in Florida, all of which I really like. *crossing my fingers
GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

Hello! I'm a single mother of two boys ages 7 and 9. I have NO income as of now so daycare was not an option for me. A good friend of mine for the first week of school stayed at my house and was there for when the boys got off the bus. My mother since then has been paying for a great afterschool program which has been a lifesaver!! Like someone said above, keep meals simple, let the house chores go undone if you must, it's more important to spend the precious little time you have with your kids when you can. You may even meet other single mothers in the program and "trade" services. I know a few mothers in my program that do that for each other.

Oh, and be prepared to have weekend clinical at least once during your program. I was lucky this last semester and had mine on Friday.

hello there i am realy motivated knowing that someone almost in same situation as i am is in sursing school.well i am a single mother of three kids,ages,12,6,2,kindly give me the best tips you know to save me through nursing school,cos i am starting on the 03 of september here in Austria.